San Antonio Scorpions


The San Antonio Scorpions were an American professional soccer team based in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Founded in 2010, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2012. The Scorpions played at Toyota Field, a soccer specific stadium that was completed in 2013.
The club operated differently from most professional sports clubs in terms of its operating profit. As part of owner Gordon Hartman's Soccer for a Cause, all net profits from Scorpions operations went towards funding Morgan's Wonderland, a special needs park located in the Longhorn Quarry, next to STAR Soccer Complex and Toyota Field.
On December 22, 2015, it was announced that Toyota Field and S.T.A.R. Soccer Complex were sold to the City of San Antonio and Bexar County, a deal which was accompanied by an agreement for Spurs Sports and Entertainment to operate the facilities and field San Antonio FC, which plays in the USL.

History

NASL expansion

On October 4, 2010, the NASL announced that a San Antonio expansion team would join the new league in 2012. The team's ownership group was led by San Antonio businessman and philanthropist Gordon Hartman. The official name of the team was revealed at a press conference on January 10, 2011: San Antonio Scorpions FC.
In the team's first NASL game, the Scorpions tied the Atlanta Silverbacks 0–0. Despite Heroes Stadium's listed capacity of 11,000, the Scorpions drew 13,151 to their home opener against the Puerto Rico Islanders on April 15, 2012. The Scorpions lost the game 4–0.
The Scorpions scored their first goal the following weekend in a 2–2 tie with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, with Pablo Campos netting the first goal in the 41st minute. Hans Denissen scored in stoppage time to give San Antonio its first ever home points.
The Scorpions sold 3,040 season tickets for the 2013 season. After a promising spring season in which the team finished 3rd, the fall season told another story. On August 27, 2013, Tim Hankinson was fired as Head Coach after an 0–0–4 start in the NASL fall season. Assistant Coach Alen Marcina was named to replace him on an interim basis. Marcina was named permanent head coach on November 20, 2013. The Scorpions would finish last in the fall season standings and finish in 7th place in the combined table at the end of the 2013 season.

NASL Soccer Bowl champions (2014)

The 2014 season, Marcina's first full season at the helm, was a complete turnaround for the Scorpions from the previous year. After finishing third in the spring season standings, the Scorpions captured the fall season championship on a stoppage-time goal from captain Adrian Cann in a 1–0 win over the visiting New York Cosmos. The Scorpions would face the Cosmos again just a week later in their NASL Championship semi-final game at Toyota Field. The Scorpions would go on to win that game in extra-time, 2–1, as Wálter Restrepo scored the winning goal in the 110th minute.
On November 15, 2014 the Scorpions hosted the 2014 Soccer Bowl at Toyota Field against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in front of a modern-era NASL Championship game record attendance of 7,847 fans. The Scorpions would go on to win their first NASL title beating the Strikers 2–1 in the Soccer Bowl. Rafael Castillo was named the Man of the Match after he opened up the scoring with a bicycle kick that garnered national attention.

Stadium

While the club waited for Toyota Field to be constructed, the Scorpions used Heroes Stadium in San Antonio as their home for the 2012 season.
The Scorpions used Comalander Stadium as an alternate playing site for their 2012 U.S. Open Cup matchup against the Laredo Heat. Comalander Stadium is owned by North East ISD, the same owner of Heroes Stadium.
In 2013, the team debuted in Toyota Field, built across the street from the STAR Soccer Complex. Construction on Toyota Field began in February 2012 and was opened in April 2013. Toyota Field seats 8,000 fans, with the possibility of expanding the complex up to 18,000 as demand necessitates.
On November 15, 2014 Toyota Field hosted the NASL Soccer Bowl between the San Antonio Scorpions and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The Scorpions won 2–1.

Club culture

Supporters

The Scorpions had three supporters groups:
On April 12, 2014 San Antonio unveiled its new mascot at a home match against Minnesota United. During halftime, the new mascot was introduced to fans and supporters. The club held a naming contest with the fans on social media and after an online vote, Sting was the name given to the new mascot. Sting attended all home games at Toyota Field and could be seen alongside the team at marketing and community outreach programs.

Rivalries

The Scorpions played MLS side FC Dallas in the deeproot Funds Cup, an annual rivalry game between the two clubs. The team also played in the Hill Country Derby versus the USL's Austin Aztex. This game gave "Central Texas bragging rights" to the winner.

Broadcasting

For the 2015 season, "all 15 regular season home matches will air live on ESPN3 in the U.S., ESPN Play in Latin America, and ESPN Player in Europe, the Middle East and Africa." In total reached 75 countries. All home games were also broadcast locally on KSAT-TV Channel 12.

Major League Soccer expansion

The Scorpions had declared their interest in moving to Major League Soccer. Toyota Field is expandable to MLS standards of 18,000 seats, although the stadium's location 20 minutes northeast of downtown does not meet MLS's preference for downtown stadiums. Owner Gordon Hartmann had preliminary discussions with MLS CEO Don Garber in spring 2014. The Crocketeers supporters group have collected over 5,000 signatures in a petition to join MLS. As of January 2015, San Antonio is still in discussions with MLS and "has been very active" according to Commissioner Garber. On February 26, 2015, the San Antonio City Council, Scorpions owner Gordon Hartman, and MLS Commissioner Don Garber all received a letter from the president of the Mexican Football Federation, Justino Compeán, stating he and the Federation support Gordon Hartman on his bid to bring MLS to San Antonio. Compeán wrote that "The city has the infrastructure, resources and diversity that makes San Antonio the ideal place for MLS expansion...I am very pleased that these local leaders have initiated the effort to bring professional soccer to San Antonio and I look forward to having them as my partner.”

Year-by-year

  1. Spring & Fall Championships not instituted until 2013 season

    Record vs. NASL clubs

TeamWDLTotal
Atlanta Silverbacks74314
Carolina Railhawks81514
FC Edmonton64414
Fort Lauderdale Strikers46414
Indy Eleven4026
Jacksonville Armada1113
Minnesota United36514
New York Cosmos3058
Ottawa Fury1326
Tampa Bay Rowdies70714
Puerto Rico Islanders1034

$ Dissolved after the 2012 season

Record vs. MLS clubs

CompetitionPWDLWin %
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
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Deeproot Funds Cup
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Friendlies
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DateCompetitionHome TeamResultAway TeamLocation
May 29, 20122012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open CupSan Antonio Scorpions1–0Houston DynamoSan Antonio, Texas
March 1, 2014Deeproot Funds CupSan Antonio Scorpions1–1FC DallasSan Antonio, Texas
March 20, 2014FriendlyHouston Dynamo0–2San Antonio ScorpionsHouston, Texas
June 17, 20142014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open CupFC Dallas2–0San Antonio ScorpionsFrisco, Texas
February 28, 2015Deeproot Funds CupSan Antonio Scorpions2–1FC DallasSan Antonio, Texas

Record vs. international clubs

CompetitionPWDLWin %
Friendlies
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DateCompetitionHome TeamResultAway TeamLocation
March 14, 2012FriendlySan Antonio Scorpions3–0 Dorados de SinaloaStockton, California
July 6, 2013FriendlySan Antonio Scorpions1–5 Tigres UANLSan Antonio, Texas
July 20, 2013FriendlySan Antonio Scorpions1–2 Dorados de SinaloaSan Antonio, Texas
April 5, 2014FriendlySan Antonio Scorpions1–1 Deportivo SaprissaSan Antonio, Texas
June 21, 2014FriendlySan Antonio Scorpions1–2 Tigres UANLSan Antonio, Texas
June 28, 2014FriendlySan Antonio Scorpions3–3 Mexico U-21San Antonio, Texas
July 6, 2014FriendlySan Antonio Scorpions1–1 C.F. MonterreySan Antonio, Texas
March 28, 2015FriendlySan Antonio Scorpions4–2 Costa Rica U-23San Antonio, Texas
June 27, 2015FriendlySan Antonio Scorpions0–1 C.S. CartaginésSan Antonio, Texas

Honors

League

YearPosPlayerHonor
2012FWPablo CamposGolden Ball Award
Golden Boot Award
NASL Best XI
2012DFRyan CochraneNASL Best XI
2012MFWalter RamirezNASL Best XI
2012GKDaryl SattlerGolden Glove Award
2013FWHans DenissenNASL Best XI
2014MFRafael CastilloNASL Best XI
2014MFWalter RestrepoNASL Best XI

Records

Player records

Statistics are for NASL regular season and post season only.

All-time leaders

RankPlayerGoalsCareer
1Pablo Campos212012
2Rafael Castillo172014–2015
3Hans Denissen162012–2013
4Tomasz Zahorski152013–2014
5Omar Cummings102015
5Billy Forbes102014–2015

RankPlayerGamesCareer
1Stephen DeRoux742013–2015
2Greg Janicki682012–2014
3Walter Ramírez512012–2013
4Billy Forbes502014–2015
5Hans Denissen482012–2013

RankPlayerMinutesCareer
1Stephen DeRoux6,2342013–2015
2Greg Janicki5,9732012–2014
3Rafael Castillo4,0562014–2015
4Billy Forbes3,8422014–2015
5Walter Ramírez3,7912012–2013

RankPlayerShutoutsCareer
1Daryl Sattler152012, 2014–2015
2Josh Saunders72014
3David Bingham52014
4Daniel Fernandes42015
4Jeremy Vuolo42013–2014

Hat tricks

4 Player scored 4 goals.

Records

The following records are for NASL regular season only. As of September 9, 2015

Attendance